


Against All Odds

by mochillie



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety Attacks, Bulimia, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Hurt Peter Parker, Loki & Peter Parker Friendship, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, he is sad, they go on an adventure, this is gonna be angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:07:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23218234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochillie/pseuds/mochillie
Summary: Loki never expected to find himself getting punched square in the face by Spider-Man.Not long after the destruction of Asgard, however, the god is mysteriously transported to Earth without a single clue as to how he got there. It's up to Loki to connect the dots, but unbeknownst to him, the future of the universe depends on his and the spider-boy's actions.-[tw: eating disorders, anxiety, ptsd, etc. in later chapters]
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	Against All Odds

**Author's Note:**

> ee i'm so excited to finally be writing again!! i know i haven't revealed much of the plot yet but skdsjds i swear it will get juicyy af soon :'))

Loki had a lot of things on his agenda, but getting punched in the face by the crime-fighting spider of New York wasn’t one of them. 

Just moments prior he had been cascading down the corridor of Asgard’s refugee ship, unease igniting his senses. He could recall the silence, deafening in all its glory. Oppressive. He stretched out his hand, and as the obsidian of his dagger graced his palm, he heard a shout. A bright gold flash engulfed his consciousness, and the transition was absolute: he hadn’t time to call out. He vanished from the corridor with a resounding snap, and all that remained in his wake was the feeble dagger he had called upon for defense, lifeless without its wielder. In the same moment, his feet slammed upon the cement of a dimly lit alleyway, and the fate of his face was at the mercy of color spandex hands.

Damn, that spider could pack a punch. 

For a single breath after the reckoning of his nose, a chaotic sort of silence permeated the atmosphere. This quiet was different from the one he had just vacated---it was more-so a pause filled with aching confusion and uncertainty. He hated it. He hated it more than when danger is evident, from a clear source, because being at the same disposition of bewilderment as potential enemies felt so very wrong and weak. 

Loki did his best to take stock of the situation while he could. He recognized this terrain: most likely somewhere on Midgard. New York City, specifically, but he couldn’t deduce which borough. A blue and red suited man was frozen before him, arm still raised in a defensive position. Loki struggled to put a name to him, but he indeed recognized the vibrant costume. Was this Spider-Boy? Man of Spiders?

To the left, a pitiful-looking mortal man stood with his jaw slacked and gun trembling loosely in his hands. Behind Loki, another man stood, likely as an accomplice. He must’ve been the man that the spandexed spider vigilante had been aiming his punch towards.

Really, out of all the places for Loki to teleport against his will, it had to be in front of a swinging fist? Curse his luck.

The pause of perplexity ended almost as soon as it had begun. The mortal with the gun fired at Loki’s head, and the god dissolved his form and re-apparated several feet away in the shadows, where he felt marginally safer. This resulted in a squeal, a fumble, and the two perps running away---wisely, they seized the moment of distraction to escape, though much to the vigilante’s chagrin. 

“Oh, come on!” The masked man huffed, arms crossed in frustration. He faced the crowded streets that the mortals had disappeared into.

Loki couldn’t help but chime in, the promise of a quarrel far too enticing. “Don’t you dare blame this on me.”

The man in the suit violently flinched, as if he had forgotten about the source of the disturbance. He turned to face Loki at a speed that almost made the god blink twice. “Oh my god! I didn’t- wait what- why are you- please don’t kill me-”

This wasn’t the verbal confrontation Loki had been hoping for. “Stop this, mortal. I have no interest in your murder.”

“Then why are you-”

“Here? I don’t know,” Loki snapped. He felt a flicker of guilt when the spider-boy recoiled, however, and wondered when he had gotten soft enough to empathize with the emotions of a Midgardian. He blamed Thor and his ridiculous mortal friends, but even that simple association brought about the threat of longing for his brother.

Despite the destruction of Asgard, the god of mischief had felt hopeful for the first time in a long time about his relationship with Thor. They had been travelling through space with those who remained of their world, eager to start a new, happier life. Times were uncertain, yet resilience and determination solidified the community in a way Loki had never felt before. 

But then Loki had been ripped away in the matter of seconds, without warning or even an inkling of an idea as to how. 

He needed answers.

“What is the date?” 

Spider-Boy looked confused. “Uh, I think it’s Saturday. July 23. Why?”

“Year.”

“What?”

“What. Is. The. Year.” Loki was growling at this point, coils of dread beginning to lace his insides. It had indeed been July 23 when he was in space, but it hadn’t been Saturday. It had been a Monday. He knew this for a fact, too, because there had been a disdainfully kitten-themed Midgardian calendar hanging in the cockpit of the refugee ship.

The vigilante shifted uncomfortably. His face remained hidden, but Loki imagined it must have been twisted into a myriad of uncomfortable expressions. “It’s 2016, s-sir.”

Damn it. Loki had managed to travel two years back in time without even intending to. How was that possible?

“You- what year did you expect it to be?” And now even Spider-Boy sounded grim, the reality of the situation setting in. 

Loki didn’t know how much he should share. In 2016, all of Midgard hated him, and for good reason, too. He didn’t know who he could trust, or who was out to get him. In fact, this entire situation could’ve been an elaborate set-up to get him killed or thrown into prison. It might be no coincidence that he landed directly in front of a hero. Especially one that, for all he knew, could easily be close to the Avengers. 

Besides, Loki didn’t know much about the man of spiders. He had seen the videos. Heard the stories. He knew he was an up-and-coming vigilante, fresh on the streets of New York. He wasn’t big-league yet, but even if he weren’t already in cahoots with the Avengers, turning in the world’s most wanted criminal would certainly earn him some brownie points. 

Loki wanted to run away. He wanted to hide, alone, maybe in the form of a raven in a tree until he could solve at least some of the imposing mysteries of his arrival. Everything about this encounter screamed suspicious, and from experience he knew it would be best to escape while he could. 

Yet, something in his gut told him to stay. A little whisper told him he could trust the vigilante, and upon further inspection, Loki didn’t feel inclined to disagree. The man before him was quite small despite his obvious strength. He held himself meekly, yet purposely stood to face Loki. His hands were visibly shaking, but his stature curved inwards, as if he wanted to reach out to the god. 

Despite all the uncertainty of the night, one thing was clear: the man of spiders wanted to help. He must’ve been afraid---reasonably so---but he recognized the danger the god was in. 

This, more than anything else, is what kept Loki from fading into the shadows without warning. The hero oozed empathy. The need for justice sparkled in the essence of his being, from his non-confrontational tone to his willingness to hear Loki out. Justice, at least on Midgard, is seen as an inherent right, even for criminals. Though it’s not always practiced so clearly, the purity of innocence and naivety set the foundation for the hero’s behavior. From this, Loki realized that even if the vigilante hated him for his crimes, he wouldn’t be a threat. Not unless Loki stepped out of line again, but that wasn’t something he was in the position to do. 

Still, Loki relented with hesitance. “I come from the year 2018. Asgard has been destroyed. My people and I were on a refugee ship, on our way to a new home. But I- I don’t know what happened. I seem to have lost some of my memory.”

“But what about Thor? Couldn’t he save everyone?” Even more naivety. 

Loki wanted to roll his eyes. “Typical Midgardian. Thor is powerful but there are limits to what he can do.” 

Spider-Boy shrugged, unconvinced. “I guess.. What about you though? I thought you were in prison? How did you escape? How do I know you’re not just lying and are the Loki from the present?”

The hero had a point, but the inkling of suspicion put Loki’s nerves on edge. He wanted to avoid the questions, the fear, the implications. In one short moment, Loki convinced himself that he didn’t have the patience to deal with a mere mortal if he weren’t going to be of use. “It is your decision to trust me. I will be on my way now if you do not intend to help.” He turned to leave, the ends of his cape waving dramatically at the motion. 

“Wait! Okay, fine, I won’t ask questions. Please, Mr. Loki.”

“Please? You dare beg me? I do not trust a man so willing to join in on obvious danger!” 

“I-”

“Do you not know who I am? I am a murderer. I kill people. Do you not want to live?” The man of spiders recoiled once more but Loki couldn’t hold back his fit of rage. Insecurity knotted in his gut. “In fact, I find it incredibly suspicious that you are so eager to even speak to me. You’re either profoundly stupid, or some sort of spy!”

“I-I-I- No- I just- You seem so lost and- I thought- I thought maybe you weren’t so mean and-”

“So you’re stupid, then.”

“No! I mean, maybe, but- No- I just..” he couldn’t seem to find the words. “I just feel like this maybe wasn’t a coincidence. I don’t know.”

So he felt the connection too. “I beg your pardon?”

“Like, I don’t know, maybe I was supposed to punch you? Which I am so sorry for, by the way. Oh my god. I can’t believe I punched a god. What is wrong with-”

“If you have a point I suggest you make it soon.”

At this, the vigilante looked down. He lightly kicked the pavement, and Loki was vaguely reminded of a pouting child. “Sorry. I don’t mean that maybe it was fate for me to punch you. Just that maybe it wasn’t a mistake for you to end up in the same place as me? I don’t- I can’t even begin to imagine why, but..” 

“It’s your intuition.”

The hero looked up sharply. “How-”

“I have the same inclination. Though it pains me to admit, I believe our fates have been woven together by some mysterious force that we mustn't disobey.”

The proposition sounded even worse outloud than it did in Loki’s head. Him, a banished criminal and god stuck in the wrong timeline, and the man of spiders, a new hero that he knew little about. What could go wrong?

But so many uncertainties laced his insides with dread. Loki hadn’t a clue where he was, where he could go, or what he could do. He was completely and utterly alone, and the lack of visible stars in the sky made that ever-more apparent. Were his people out there? Was Thor looking for him? There were so many things he did not know. Yet, an unmistakable pull in the direction of the spandex-clad man made it hard to dismiss the undeniable truth: this was meant to be. 

The man of spiders was silent. Without being able to see his face, Loki struggled to read his emotions, but he at least hadn’t taken off running. Loki figured he could count on his partnership.

“Perhaps we could start our journey with a nap?” Loki suggested. An uncharacteristic move for sure, but a deep fatigue had begun to settle in his bones. He didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to stand in the damp streets.

That elicited a chuckle from the vigilante. “Yeah, that sounds good. But..”

“What is it?”

“I’m going to have to sneak you in.”

Despite everything, Loki smirked. He’d always welcome a bit of mischief.


End file.
